EU Overload

The beginning of the end got underway this week with our final presentations for my Political System of the EU class. I have spent the past few weeks compiling information, and writing the paper that is to accompany the presentation. After working on it for so long, I am a bit tired of reading and talking about EU humanitarian aid efforts.

Our presentation seminar consisted of two full days of non stop presentations on anything and everything to do with EU policy. Our professor is a visiting professor from Paris, so she travels to Cologne to teach the course. She's a nice lady, but pretty much your stereotypical Parisian. Kind of hard to read, rather nonemotional, and monotone. Fittingly, our seminar took place at the Institut Francais Cologne. During the first day of the seminar, we were treated to a little presentation on what the institute does. Unfortunately for me, the presentation on French culture was provided in German. It was basically a no win situation for me. I politely paid attention to the presenter even though I couldn't understand anything he was saying.

Here's the line-up of all the topics we discussed:
- The Role of the European Parliament
- Europe as an Empire
- The European Neighborhood Policy
- Turkey's Place in the EU
- EU / Russian Relations
- The EU and Iran
- MERCOSUR and the EU
- The EU and Anti-Terror
- The EU as a Humanitarian Player
- The EU and the Environment
- The EU and Energy
- The United Nations and the EU

As you can see, we covered a breadth of topics, and I actually learned quite a bit about the EU. What I thought was a disappointing class turned fairly informational in its last days. I felt a little pressure to deliver a good presentation since only two of us were not from the Union. Even though I put a lot of preparation into my presentation, I'll admit that I did have an advantage over the others as only two of us were native speaking English people.

The format was to present for 30-40 minutes, and then the professor would basically pick it apart and tell you where the gaps were. We are supposed to then include her recommendations in our final paper. Knowing that the format would be this way, I strategically selected a somewhat neutral topic in the EU as a humanitarian player.

There were a few brave souls though that wanted to tackle such issues as Russia, Turkey, and Iran. During the presentation, I could see the professor writing feverishly, almost with excitement to critique and pick apart their presentations. 30-40 minutes of presenting was followed by 20 minutes of her telling us what we did wrong. The nice part was that it was the same for everyone, so you didn't feel too bad when she provided her feedback. Luckily for me, my topic was the one topic she had the least amount of background experience in, so the arrows weren't as sharp. Although there was one moment where I got cold called on. She asked if I knew what year the Monroe doctrine was finalized. Huh? I just smiled and said I didn't know. If you are curious, it was signed in 1823, basically saying Europe wasn't allowed to colonize or mess with the affairs of independent nations throughout the Americas.

In total, both days were a success, and I was impressed with the job everyone did. We were a bit glazed over by the end, and even though the professor offered VERY direct feedback, it was all with good intentions. The only thing to do now is finish up the paper, which will have to wait until finals are over.

Speaking of finals, I have successfully wrapped up all classes, and now only have to prepare for exams. As I mentioned before, the entire semester comes down to the final exams in most classes, which is the case for me. I have four exams in three days, two from the same professor. He gave a final about a month ago, and 25% of the class failed it. I'm not joking. That is a true fact. Needless to say, to make my trip worth while, I will be studying day and night until next Wed is over. Wish me luck!